The Links Lounge (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION/LIV ***)

[DLeightonReid]

Good Tuesday morning, golfers!  

 

Another windy and cold day in the Ozarks but we have warmer temps on the way.  This is spring break week for our schools, so I am hoping to play with my grandson tomorrow.  Hudson is a freshman basketball player and decided to go out for the golf team instead of running track.  He shot a 52 in his first JV meet this past week and called to ask if we could play golf together.  

 

 

[NCLancer]

8 hours ago, aenemated said:

Earlier ... last kid on the range. Not much changed since I was 10!

 

 

It's always beat to hell ... but it's a 5min drive from the house and sure does have some pretty views. 

And it's real green grass!! I (and my elbow) cannot stand hitting off mats... 

 

We loved the poster for your charity tourney this week-end and hope you have a great turnout and make lots of dough for a great cause.  Thank you for what you are doing.

 

And for no reason other than it's a dog and we are on a golf forum, here is our dog Ivy's brother Ghost with a Callaway iron.  He's got some large mitts!

 

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, NCLancer said:

And it's real green grass!! I (and my elbow) cannot stand hitting off mats... 

 

We loved the poster for your charity tourney this week-end and hope you have a great turnout and make lots of dough for a great cause.  Thank you for what you are doing.

 

And for no reason other than it's a dog and we are on a golf forum, here is our dog Ivy's brother Ghost with a Callaway iron.  He's got some large mitts!

 

 

That boy's definitely playing the back tees! 

[imkirby34]

11 hours ago, aenemated said:

Earlier ... last kid on the range. Not much changed since I was 10!

 

 

It's always beat to hell ... but it's a 5min drive from the house and sure does have some pretty views. 

 

<heavy sigh>  I'd gladly hit out of someone else's divots at a grass range that was only 5 minutes from my house as opposed to going to a range that's a few blocks from my house to hit off mats that's always packed with people who spend more time gabbing loudly with each other than hitting.  All-the-more frustrating because while I'm the same nationality as most of those gabbing, I don't understand what they're saying and some of them seem rather offended when I admit that I don't speak the language. LOL.

Edited March 26 by imkirby34
Some grammar.

[Petethreeput]

@imkirby34 guilty as charged.  Not the linguistics, but the constant chatter.  We have a number of new golfers at the course, and we roll up on the range (between 8-20 depending on the day) and just start talking.  Lots of profanity, joking, and poor swing commentary being thrown around.  Last Friday there was a new guy working on his game and there we were, just excited to be playing golf and I am not sure he appreciated our arrival.

 

The only person I have seen who was actively disenchanted on the range was Miller Barber.  He was working on his game when my son and I arrived.  By this time he wasn't competing, I would bet he was 85+.  We were not near him (I made sure to move to the other side of the range), but my son at 5 years old was excited.  As we were leaving to get milkshakes he mentioned I should teach my son the etiquette of silence.  I mentioned to him he would do well to learn the same etiquette.  It was weird, from then on out, he never really spoke to me.

 

Seeing your post, I will send myself a "do better letter" and be more cognizant of others.

[mshills]

37 minutes ago, Petethreeput said:

The only person I have seen who was actively disenchanted on the range was Miller Barber.  He was working on his game when my son and I arrived.  By this time he wasn't competing, I would bet he was 85+.  We were not near him (I made sure to move to the other side of the range), but my son at 5 years old was excited.  As we were leaving to get milkshakes he mentioned I should teach my son the etiquette of silence.  I mentioned to him he would do well to learn the same etiquette.  It was weird, from then on out, he never really spoke to me.

What an a**. Glad you didn’t let that one go. Want silence at your range? Buy the range and make it yours. 

[touch]

The starter is back. 😅

 

 

[aenemated]

3 hours ago, imkirby34 said:

I'd gladly hit out of someone else's divots at a grass range that was only 5 minutes from my house as opposed to going to a range that's a few blocks from my house to hit off mats that's always packed with people who spend more time gabbing loudly with each other than hitting. 

 

That's how my old range in LA (Westchester GC) was. Hated it but it was relatively nearby and usually packed with all sorts of yahoos. BUT it was close to Loyola-Marymount ... so wasn't unusual to see someone from the golf team there. That was pretty cool. 

 

I'd have had to drive a VERY long way to find a grass range - think the closest to me was Angeles National way up towards La Cañada - where Colin Morikawa is from. Played there pretty often (great Nicklaus course) but it was like at least an hour drive from the old house.

 

 

[imkirby34]

2 hours ago, Petethreeput said:

@imkirby34 guilty as charged.  Not the linguistics, but the constant chatter.  We have a number of new golfers at the course, and we roll up on the range (between 8-20 depending on the day) and just start talking.  Lots of profanity, joking, and poor swing commentary being thrown around.  Last Friday there was a new guy working on his game and there we were, just excited to be playing golf and I am not sure he appreciated our arrival.

 

The only person I have seen who was actively disenchanted on the range was Miller Barber.  He was working on his game when my son and I arrived.  By this time he wasn't competing, I would bet he was 85+.  We were not near him (I made sure to move to the other side of the range), but my son at 5 years old was excited.  As we were leaving to get milkshakes he mentioned I should teach my son the etiquette of silence.  I mentioned to him he would do well to learn the same etiquette.  It was weird, from then on out, he never really spoke to me.

 

Seeing your post, I will send myself a "do better letter" and be more cognizant of others.

 

I don't mind the banter.  Heck, with the walls between alternating bays at this particular range (mainly to support the upper deck), the reverberating impact sounds, alone, can make your ears ring.  Since you're not supposed to hit woods from the upper deck, the ground level is always packed with people waiting and the "regulars" have no qualms about taking hours to hit a medium bucket as they socialize.  I get it.  If I have no choice but to go to that range, I'm messing with my irons, so I go to the upper deck anyhow.

 

Although it's only vaguely related, I think my simmering frustration is due to my many years at the local poker room where there are handful of "regulars" who idle SO much.  They play a few rounds, get up for 20-30 minutes and get the 2 missed blinds, come back and play a few rounds, get up again for 20-30 minutes, and repeat, all with a long waitlist.  You get 3 or 4 of them at the same table (and the stakes I was playing, there would only be 1 or 2 tables, max) and you're playing short-handed quite often.  LOL.

 

I don't know if I mentioned this story before about language offense.   Back in the early 90's, I was an early-morning walk-on single at the local muni and was paired with a couple Korean business-types who where in town for a convention.  We introduced ourselves at the #1 tee and after our tee shots, while we were walking down the fairway, one of them says that he heard my last name over the PA and were wondering if it was Chinese or Korean.  Not an usual question since my surname can be either, plus even fellow Asians are sometimes unsure of my nationality because I'm Japanese-Korean.  So, I tell him that it's Korean.  They both "perk up" and they start talking to me in Korean.  I hold up my hands and apologize for not being able to understand.   They look surprised and ask why I don't know Korean.  Being ignorant and/or naive, I tell them that even my dad didn't learn Korean (100% true) and that "in all honesty, if I were to learn an Asian language, it would likely be Japanese because I see my mom's side of the family more than my dad's." 

 

They did not say a word to me for the rest of the round.  I didn't fully understand my faux pas until I mentioned it to my folks later that day.  Oops!  Hehe.

 

 

 

Edited March 26 by imkirby34
Had to fix my French.

[imkirby34]

37 minutes ago, touch said:

The starter is back. 😅

 

 

 

I still remembering watching The Shining for the first time at a friend's house - the only person I knew who had HBO back in the day.  Scared the bejeezus out of me.

[chisag]

7 minutes ago, imkirby34 said:

 

I still remembering watching The Shining for the first time at a friend's house - the only person I knew who had HBO back in the day.  Scared the bejeezus out of me.

 

 

... I was reading The Shinning when I was doing a weekend shift at WEFM in the Hancock Building back in the late 70's. My entire floor was empty and they turn off lights so I had to go down a dark hallway, turn down another dark hallway and then go in the bathroom and turn on the lights. I put on a long song, stepped out and looked down the dark hallway ... paused 😱 he!! no... and went back to the control room and wizzed in a cup. 😅

[touch]

The Irish team could be tough to beat.  April 25-28 

 

 

[DLeightonReid]

Good Wednesday morning!

Golf day with grandson #2 today.  It is currently 29°, but will be in the 50's this afternoon.

 

 

 

[touch]

Have a wonderful time playing with your grandson today DLR. 

Make fun memories! 🏌️‍♀️

[touch]

Good Morning Lounge Boys. 

 

Yesterday it was cold and rainy here all day. Today the sun returns and the temperature is going up into the middle 60's. I have a tee time this afternoon......Hooray! 

 

 

It's not too early to get excited for the Masters. You all remember this amazing play by Freddie in 1999 don't you?

 

 

 

And here we have Will the Thrill telling us just what it takes to go from a 12 cap to scratch. This is important advice for those golfers that want to get quite a bit better.

 

 

[DLeightonReid]

22 minutes ago, touch said:

Have a wonderful time playing with your grandson today DLR. 

Make fun memories! 🏌️‍♀️

Hudson prefers to play with his friends and I understand that.  I was excited when he called and asked me to play. 

[touch]

2 minutes ago, DLeightonReid said:

Hudson prefers to play with his friends and I understand that.  I was excited when he called and asked me to play. 

 

I bet he does as he's still a kid.

He has a great first name. 👍

Don't go easy on him, instead make 4 birdies and show off Grandpa! ⛳💥🏌️😀

[Hickory4ever]

My home course reopened yesterday after a 10 day closure due to weather, so of course we had to play despite less than ideal conditions. We bumped our tee time back an hour due to an inch of rain and started at 12:30 instead. We had heavy drizzle for a few early holes but it dried out by the fourth hole. It was nippy with a high around 40*F and 15-20mph winds but we were dressed for it and had the course to ourselves.

 

In retrospect, we should have moved up a tee block but still played at 5600. The course played more like 6500 under the conditions but we did not care. None of us reached a par 4 in regulation with an iron until the 18th which is shorter. It didn’t matter, lots of fun.

 

So game 10 is in the books, game 11 on Thursday.

[chisag]

5 hours ago, touch said:

And here we have Will the Thrill telling us just what it takes to go from a 12 cap to scratch. This is important advice for those golfers that want to get quite a bit better.

 

 

... You can't avoid double bogies. But you can avoid needless double bogies. Such a cliche' for a reason but you can only play golf one stroke at a time. Last shot is meaningless and so is the next shot. I like to think of every shot as a game unto itself. I know where I want to hit my drives on most holes and on my good days I can pretty much put the ball there the majority of the time. That dictates my next shot. Right at the pin? Middle of the green? Favor the wide side with a short side pin? I chose the best option for those shots. 

... But what about a bad drive. That's when the game within a game happens. I may aim short of the green or wide of the green if there is trouble on one side and my tee shot leaves me in a tough spot. I can get up and down and save par where a "bold" shot may put me in a deep bunker or worse, slope down into the desert or trees and I would be looking at a needless double bogie.

... Great example is #10 at Aguila, a short par 5 playing 466 yds. If I catch a downslope I can get to the bottom of the hill and have 180-190 to the middle of the green. A lake comes around the front guarding about 1/3rd of the green. There are no green side bunkers and mounds on the right side of the green that can funnel a ball down on the fringe. But 15ft right of the green the mounds slope into the desert. If the pin is right I will go right at it. Middle pin and I will favor the right side and when the pin is left and on the top tier because of a 6 foot ridge in the middle of the green I still favor the right side. Even a 3 putt up and over the ridge (rare but it happens) is better than a ball in the water and dropping for a difficult pitch. If I hit a poor drive I will lay up to a wedge making sure I am well short of the water and then go right at any pin location. 

... But I play with mid and high index players that really butcher the hole. There is a strategic bunker right side about 100yds from the green with a very high lip at least rising 8 feet over the sand and I have seen many balls hit that lip and go back in the bunker. Tough shot out of that bunker for a high index where they can't see the green so they should not be taking a club that gets them to that bunker. Lay up 20yds short and have a mid iron to the green. They should not be hitting 5 woods trying to reach the green from 200yds because the chances of going in the water or over the mounds and into the desert/trees is a 50-50 proposition. The worst thing I see though is going at a left pin over the water even with a wedge when right side of the green is the play. If they top it or pull it or skull it they are on or over the green, not in the water. If they played it one stroke at a time and played the best and safe shot every time, they might still make bogie but a double would be difficult with anything other than an out right duff. 

[NCLancer]

Rode 18 yesterday with Mrs NCL at Quaker Creek north of Mebane, NC.  55 degrees, cloudy, light winds as we teed off  just after noon.  Began play on the 10th, played mixed tees about 5500 yards and shot a 46/45=91.  36 putts, no penalty stokes, no lost balls, same ball all 18 holes. 12-14 fairways, both misses were left side but not in trouble.  On the 350 yard Par 4 16th, my drive struck a tree and dropped straight down about 180 yards from the green in the left rough.  Pulled off a hooked 20 degree hybrid shot just to the fringe in front...wish I could have seen the shot tracer!  And not to forget my "pard", Mrs NCL curled in a twisty 40+ foot birdie from off the green for a nice highlight on the Par 4 13th.    

It's not a fancy course but it does have some fun holes and with a $25 Sr rate we should probably make the half hour drive to play there more often.

[mshills]

The best course containment (find this a better turn of phrase than course management) principle is the simplest.

 

Aggressive swing. Conservative target. 
 

I cannot remember for sure if that is from Watson’s book or who codified it, but I’ll bet I saved many, many hundreds of needless strokes when I was on the bag with this principle and nothing else. 

[miamistomp]

Touch anxiously calling " next"

 

[aenemated]

3 hours ago, chisag said:

 

 

... You can't avoid double bogies. But you can avoid needless double bogies. Such a cliche' for a reason but you can only play golf one stroke at a time. Last shot is meaningless and so is the next shot. I like to think of every shot as a game unto itself. I know where I want to hit my drives on most holes and on my good days I can pretty much put the ball there the majority of the time. That dictates my next shot. Right at the pin? Middle of the green? Favor the wide side with a short side pin? I chose the best option for those shots. 

... But what about a bad drive. That's when the game within a game happens. I may aim short of the green or wide of the green if there is trouble on one side and my tee shot leaves me in a tough spot. I can get up and down and save par where a "bold" shot may put me in a deep bunker or worse, slope down into the desert or trees and I would be looking at a needless double bogie.

... Great example is #10 at Aguila, a short par 5 playing 466 yds. If I catch a downslope I can get to the bottom of the hill and have 180-190 to the middle of the green. A lake comes around the front guarding about 1/3rd of the green. There are no green side bunkers and mounds on the right side of the green that can funnel a ball down on the fringe. But 15ft right of the green the mounds slope into the desert. If the pin is right I will go right at it. Middle pin and I will favor the right side and when the pin is left and on the top tier because of a 6 foot ridge in the middle of the green I still favor the right side. Even a 3 putt up and over the ridge (rare but it happens) is better than a ball in the water and dropping for a difficult pitch. If I hit a poor drive I will lay up to a wedge making sure I am well short of the water and then go right at any pin location. 

... But I play with mid and high index players that really butcher the hole. There is a strategic bunker right side about 100yds from the green with a very high lip at least rising 8 feet over the sand and I have seen many balls hit that lip and go back in the bunker. Tough shot out of that bunker for a high index where they can't see the green so they should not be taking a club that gets them to that bunker. Lay up 20yds short and have a mid iron to the green. They should not be hitting 5 woods trying to reach the green from 200yds because the chances of going in the water or over the mounds and into the desert/trees is a 50-50 proposition. The worst thing I see though is going at a left pin over the water even with a wedge when right side of the green is the play. If they top it or pull it or skull it they are on or over the green, not in the water. If they played it one stroke at a time and played the best and safe shot every time, they might still make bogie but a double would be difficult with anything other than an out right duff. 

 

Just checked the layout of that one out - not a whole lotta room for error around that green! 

[dashanks]

46 minutes ago, mshills said:

The best course containment (find this a better turn of phrase than course management) principle is the simplest.

 

Aggressive swing. Conservative target. 
 

I cannot remember for sure if that is from Watson’s book or who codified it, but I’ll bet I saved many, many hundreds of needless strokes when I was on the bag with this principle and nothing else. 

Hard part is making another aggressive swing after you screw one up.

[DLeightonReid]

Good Thursday morning!  I had a very enjoyable round yesterday playing with grandson #2.  He has greatly improved since taking up the game last summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[touch]

Some of the most embarrassing moments in professional golf.  😄

 

 

Edited March 28 by touch

[touch]

I'm hungry. What's for lunch?

 

 

[NJBigFish22]

1 hour ago, touch said:

Some of the most embarrassing moments in professional golf.  😄

 

 

I may or may not have done some of these during my time playing golf.  Never fell in a lake, but that has a higher probability than a HIO! 😂😂

[Double Mocha Man]

1 minute ago, NJBigFish22 said:

I may or may not have done some of these during my time playing golf.  Never fell in a lake, but that has a higher probability than a HIO! 😂😂

 

A Lake-in-One!

[Pastit]

6 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

A Lake-in-One!

I slid into a lake in Spain whilst stretching to remove a golf ball. Worse was I couldn’t get out without help due to the rubber matting around the edges which caused the incident. Fortunately only my lower legs were drowned so that I had to complete my round without socks. I was wearing removable- leg pants to could discard the lower trouser-sections.